Nero's Home
by LizMayCry
Summary: Nero knows little about who he is or where he comes from, but does not question it until a familiar Dante shows his face in Fortuna and changes his life forever.
1. Black Blankets

On a particularly slow and ordinary Sunday evening at the Devil May Cry Dante had slouched his exhausted, leather covered back side onto his warn out, second hand sofa. Dripping with the cold of the infamous Capulet City rain season he shivered, even his slightly higher natural body temperature was struggling to cope.

It had been a rough season for Dante which made business difficult to come by. Without any demons to slay or damsels to save almost no money reached his hand by the end of the month, most of what remained was paid to an unsympathetic Lady who had tired of him paying off his debt with sexual favours. Barely having the money to feed him day to day, Dante naturally began to feel much more human. His demonic regeneration couldn't cope with the lack of energy so was rendered useless several weeks ago.

Accepting the fact that he hadn't anything to eat until his next job, Dante shivered and curled up tightly in an old towel and dirty duvet on the sofa for a familiar, disappointing night sleep. It was going to be a long month.

The clock struck 1AM as a tall, slender figure began to linger outside of the cracked windows of Dante's worn and torn shop. With the rain still pouring aggressively the female stranger sought refuge under the concrete porch, clinging protectively to a bundle of towels and blankets. She looked through the window to the white haired man in plain sight in the dimly lit office as her face dropped and her heart sank. Looking down at the bundle and back up again, she drew a long, uncertain breath.

"I-I'm sorry…" She choked slightly on her words as she looked down at a peaceful infant face, sleeping soundly through the rain storm and ongoing chaos of traffic. She stroked the bangs of fine, white hair from the baby's forehead, kissing it gently before placing it under the porch light, sniffing and sobbing quietly as she knocked loudly on the door before running down the dark and empty street, and into the darkness. She prayed to every God she could think of that Dante had heard the knock, but she couldn't go back now.

The rain got heavier through the night, the thunder clapping loud enough to wake Dante from his sleep, no more than 10 minutes since the knocking – and sure enough if Dante could be woken, anyone could. Out of what seemed to be nowhere Dante heard the unmistakable sound of the baby crying, sitting up and rubbing his eyes to go out and investigate, thinking nothing much of it, he just wanted sleep.

He opened the heavy duty door and looked briefly around, almost missing the tell-tale pile of sheets at his feet. Soaked through, in the pile was none other than a young infant, no more than a couple of months old. Surprised and hesitant, Dante cocked an eyebrow as he awkwardly picked up the child and took it inside from the freezing cold.

It was a baby, no mistake about that, but something was different, and this struck the demon hunter like a brick. No child could last in the cold conditions of the Capulet streets on its own, and looked more developed than most human babies, but the most noticeable thing got Dante's heart beating like a sinner in church… White hair.

Almost in a state of shock, Dante looked over the small child, unwrapped the nude baby from the soggy, old blankets and wrapped in one of his few clean shirts to keep warm. With his dry, clean shirt wrapped around him, the baby boy soon settled, peeking open one stormy blue eye, by then this was unmistakeable.

"Vergil..? No, no no no no… Why now?" Dante stood up and held his head with both hands, laughing nervously like a madman, he couldn't cope with this now, he couldn't even feed himself! Naturally the poor man began to panic, he knew nothing about babies! "Shit, shit, shit…"

As the baby was now settled in a makeshift nest in the sofa it gave Dante time to think straight. He paced up and down the office before making one desperate phone call to the only women that would even speak to him, Lady.

Dante shakily dialled her number and drew the receiver to his ear, hearing a less than happy Lady on the other end of the line.

"What asshole..? You know what time it is…?" She growled down the phone, not noticing Dante's shaky breaths at first before hearing them when he attempted to speak. "D-Dante, whats up?" She stuttered slightly and sat up to talk to him.

"C-can you come o-over…?" He struggled to control his words as they barely made it past his lips. He sat himself down as he was still shaking in shock. Lady agreed to his plea and made her way over quickly, amazingly not waking the boy as she parked up on her gas-guzzling motorcycle. She came to the door and let herself in to see Dante sat on one end of the sofa with his head in his hands while on the other side seemed to be a young, carbon copy of the man. Lady wasn't one to hide what she was thinking, and that didn't change tonight. She took a deep breath and sighed before her usual response; "What have you done…?"

It took a while for a response but Dante finally gave her one. "Not me… Vergil."

Lady shook her head and sighed in response, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the thought of Dante being responsible for a child. Especially one supposedly related to him, whether it be son or nephew. "Well whether its yours or not, what do you expect to happen now?" She sighed, the nearest orphanage was miles away in Fortuna.

Dante sighed heavily and shrugged, "I-I was hoping you had a freakin' idea…" Looking up hopefully at her, he chewed his lip nervously. He knew she was possibly the least maternal woman on the planet but it was his only shot. Lady shifted uncomfortably on her feet and folded her arms. "Look. Can you make do for tonight until the shops open?" She half-smiled. The things she did for him…

He nodded slightly and looked over at the sleeping child before back at her, "I think so… Can you stay…?" He was really clueless when it came to kids. She rolled her eyes and nodded, sitting beside him on the sofa and picking the baby up for a look.

"Poor kid." She laughed bluntly and quietly, "Don't be cruel." Dante huffed in reply.

"Not that, idiot!" She laughed a little more and stroked the boys hair.

"Whats so funny then?"

"He's got eyebrows as black as hell…" Both of them turned to each other and laughed a little, the poor thing had white hair and clashing black eyebrows. Looked like the pigment that ran in the family stopped after his hair, looked like he didn't have the best luck.

Lady and Dante eventually crawled into bed with the baby between them, which made them seem like a strange sort of couple. Couple or not, they both slept through the night in preparation of the long day baby shopping tomorrow.

Deciding that Dante would be no help while shopping, Lady decided to let him sleep in. Several hours later she came home with arms covered in bags and both boys still soundly asleep in bed, they could both sleep through anything. "Dante, wake up." She sighed tiredly and eventually had to nudge him to wake him up, having to spend a gruelling week teaching him how to care for a baby as they tried to get a placement at the Fortuna Orphanage.

When the time came both of them had become rather attached to the little baby, frowning as they strapped him into his car seat for the long drive to Fortuna – with Lady driving of course. Both of them remained rather quiet during the trip, it was hard to give him up but it wasn't safe for him to be exposed to demons. It was for the best.

They were greeted by a young woman wearing the usual white robes worn by the city's inhabitants as they came through the door, Dante protectively carrying the young boy to the reception desk where they asked the usual questions, most having been explained over the phone.

"…And have you named him since we last spoke?" She smiled as the two looked at each other, Dante thinking hard about his name choice before looking at his face again. "…Nero." He grinned at how perfectly it suited him, nero was the only word from a different language he knew, which happened to mean 'black' in Italian, which seemed overall very fitting as he was found in black blankets, and of course, his jet black eyebrows.

Minutes seemed to feel like hours as they approved Nero's surrender, one of the workers letting them say their final goodbyes before carrying him off to the main nursery, leaving two slightly torn up demon hunters to start their long journey home.


	2. Forgotten Origins

A year had passed since both the demon hunters gave up Nero to the shelter. Fortuna had offered him a far better quality of life than Dante ever could; they gave him a clean, safe home, good food and everything he needed.

The gentle and supportive staff had helped to shape Nero into a calm, pleasant young boy, but he wasn't without his questioning moments. Somehow, Nero was different from the other children his age. He developed quicker and stronger than all of them and seemed very antisocial towards other children, but this was just dismissed as him being shy and socially awkward, he would grow out of it eventually.

No time was wasted in providing Nero with a forever home. A pleasant family with one young daughter, a little older than Nero and a son a year or so older than that came to enquire about adopting a third.

"Hello? We called last night about a viewing with the children from the files?" The mother had a gentle voice to match her face. She rested her hand against the counter as the staff booked her in, the little daughter peeking just over the top of the wood.

"Ahh yes, Mrs Cristallo is it? This must be little Kyrie?" The woman at the reception desk smiled and lowered her glasses, waving at the little brown haired girl who hid behind her mothers dress.

"Yes, that's us!" Maria Cristallo nodded and smiled. A younger volunteer came through to escort the small family to a meeting room, where they sat and interviewed each child separately, Nero being last of the pile.

The young woman held Nero's hand as they both walked into the room and she closed the door. Nero took the seat in the furthest corner of the sofa opposing the family, looking a little shy as he saw all the new people looking at him.

"And this is Nero, obviously he's a lot more developed than our other children here, but we expect he's about one and a half." She stroked Nero's puppy soft, white hair as he leaned against her for reassurance.

Maria looked thrilled to see him in person, looking at her husband through a brief glance, they were both thinking the same thing; he looked almost exactly like Lord Sparda.

Trying not to get distracted by his looks, they discussed more about his behaviour and well-being. Everything seemed to be clear and Nero was wisped away to live with his new, wealthy family in the centre of town. Of course, the news spread across the closely knit community, rumours circulating that Nero was of course the descendent of Sparda himself.

Nero went from being a wet pile of blankets on the street to the youngest son of a popular family, loved by his siblings and parents as well as members of the school he attended. He was never anything more than average in school apart from Physical Education, but was treated as though he was top of the class in every subject, which nobody really objected to. This continued throughout all of the young boy's childhood, brightening his attitudes and personality. By the age of eight Nero had began to make friends for the first time, outside his siblings Credo and Kyrie of course. He was friendly and popular with all class mates which made his parents proud at every parental meeting that they had, all seemed too good to be true until he turned ten.

Maria got an unexpected phone call at around noon from Nero's school. Assuming it was just a minor issue concerning Nero's unregistered dentist appointment a couple of days before, she proceeded to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello ma'am, this is Mrs Rochdale, your son's teacher?" An elder, well pronounced woman replied, there seeming to be shouting in the background.

"Yes, is anything wrong?" Maria fiddled with the phone wire as she brought it up to her lips, looking across at her husband who was sat polishing his weapons at the coffee table.

"I'm afraid Nero has been suspended for showing physical violence towards a fellow pupil, I will arrange a meeting about it for this afternoon." Nero? Violent? They could never have dreamed he would do such a thing; he was their gentle, sensible young son.

Both concerned parents made their way promptly to the school principles office where Nero was sat covered in mud, grass stains and surprisingly blood, coiled up tight on the chair with his hood covering his head in a sulk. Maria knelt beside her son and stroked his arm,

"Sweety, what happened?" She rubbed his back a bit to try to get him to answer, but with no success. Eventually both the principle and Miss Rochdale invited the three of them in, Nero having to be dragged by his father as he silently protested.

They all sat down around a large table where a distressed looking mother and son were already sitting opposite them.

"Mister and missus Cristello, this may come as a shock to you but today your son decided it was in his best interests to attack poor Christopher, biting and scratching him enough to draw blood." The stocky, aged Miss Rochdale sat down in her seat and polished her glasses.

Maria looked horrified at the thought, "N-Nero? Is that true?" She looked over at the guilty white haired boy between her and her husband as he ducked his head to avoid eye contact. He shrugged exaggeratedly in reply but nothing else.

"Y-yeah! He started hitting me 'cause I tagged him in sports today…" The other child yelped as he clutched his mother's arm, staring across at his attacker.

"I-I don't understand… Nero's never been like this…" Maria stuttered a little, in disbelief that Nero would turn like that, and for seemingly no reason at all.

"It could have just been an isolated incident, but I would suggest keeping an eye on him. We'll keep you in touch with our child psychologist as Nero takes the rest of the week off on suspension." The principle added. Nero gave a sideways glance to his father who scowled back slightly; he was definitely the stricter of the two parents as was expected. Nero lowered his head in shame and embarrassment, twiddling his thumbs under the table for the rest of the meeting.

After being dismissed Nero was taken straight home and sent to his room where he sat in a corner for the rest of the night, Maria finding it hard to get to sleep as she was too busy worrying what would have caused him to act in such a way.

"Its just not right, Jack…" Maria rolled over and laid her head on her husband's chest and sighed heavily.

"I know, but you know how boys are, maybe some other boys encouraged him." Jack huffed tiredly in reply, stroking his wife's chestnut hair as they both settled down for the night.

Several more of these incidents occurred throughout his school life, but the cause remained a mystery. It was almost as if he had a split personality and nobody could understand why, he had the perfect upbringing as far as anyone was concerned.

Things eventually got so bad during high school that Nero was expelled due to his extremely aggressive and unpredictable behaviour; he was no longer the sweet, gentle son that his parents had fallen in love with. Now everyone was just waiting in fear for the next time he lashed out.

No therapist or psychiatrists were able to help put a diagnosis on his behaviour because nobody knew about his past or heritage before he came to the orphanage and no contact details were left by the people who brought him there. His origins seemed lost.


	3. Dark Night

"What is wrong with you Nero?!" Jack barked, trying to resist throwing out his aggressive adopted son.

"There's nothing wrong! It was an accident!" Nero yelled back, being pushed out of the way by Kyrie who rushed to the aid of her older brother, Credo who had been struck by a sword by Nero during training which cased a deep wound in his side.

"There are a few too many of these 'accidents' don't you think?" Jack knelt by his son who was almost a carbon copy of himself. He stood him up and walked him inside to his mother to get his wound cleaned up. This left a now 17 year old Nero pacing angrily by himself on the brilliant white training grounds.

The young white haired male drew up his headphones over his ears to block everything out and pulled his hood over his head to cover his angelic white hair and hide his ever scowling face. Nero turned to look at the front door of the house, where Kyrie was peeking through the frosted glass, watching her younger brother. He sighed quietly and turned away again, walking down the wide, empty street to be alone.

Once he was out of sight of his family, his slow walk became a sprint and he left the town behind in no time.

Nero looked up to the sky as he halted, it had grown cold and dark as rain began to fall to the clap of thunder.

"Great." Nero's response was a mix of genuine and sarcasm. He'd always loved the rain but saw it as an insult to injury after indirectly being kicked out of his home for the night. Shaking the thought out of his head Nero continued his long walk, being stopped by a high fence which stood around ten feet.

Nero looked up at the intimidating steel pillars, sharpened at the spikes to warn off demons from entering the city, but of course the council wouldn't tell the public that. He looked around for anything he could use to climb it as the city gates were now closed until morning like they were every night. A few feet away was a large, heavy duty dumpster, it was worth a try.

With a few straining tugs of the wheeled trash dump, it was against the fence. It stood a good height from the floor which made Nero doubt his ability to climb it. He looked down at his boot covered feet when he noticed a trait that may act in his favour, he was incredibly tall. His glance flickered between the bin and his feet before he took a few steps back, sprinting forward and vaulting the dumpster. Now five feet from the ground the teenager was finding it hard to believe he jumped such a thing so easily.

Eager to try out this newly discovered ability, he looked at the cottage that stood behind him, opposing the fence he aimed to defeat. It stood another five feet higher and seemed easily achievable.

"Come on Nero, you lanky shit…" Nero smirked as he muttered to himself, mimicking the common phrase the other teenagers at training would taunt him with. His eyes gleamed as he eyed up the thatch roof, and in a heartbeat he leaped it. His boot strap on his second foot caught the straw in the roof as he came in to land which make a less than graceful thud as his whole body hit the roof.

"Crap. That hurt…" He winced and wiped a scrape on his face from where a loose piece of thick straw cut him before regaining his stance and turning to face the fence, looked like he still needed work. Not letting his embarrassing fall put him off, he walked to the other side of the roof before running up and leaping the large gap between the house and fence. He gripped hold of the top bar and struggled to haul himself up. He manoeuvred his feet between the obstructing spikes and crouched uncomfortably, thinking to himself 'don't slip… don't slip' as he realised the vulnerable position his ass was in.

After settling on the fence Nero looked out to the wide fields and forest that stood outside of the city, he never left the city gates but only now started to wonder why, it seemed so peaceful. Looking back at the city he decided it wouldn't do any harm to leave for just one night, especially when his family didn't want him there tonight, or so it seemed.

He drew a deep breath and jumped down from the fence to the other side, stumbling a little as he landed, but otherwise landing what other people would have seriously injured themselves doing.

"No way…" He laughed a little and smirked up at the fence, feeling accomplished that he'd finally passed the boundaries set by his parents, just like any other teenager.

"Dad's gonna be so mad."

He bolted his way to the forest to explore as well as get the feeling back in his legs after the little adrenaline rush. It was growing darker and the only light source he had was the full moon above him though this didn't worry him because as far as he knew, no danger existed in such a quiet place.

He took in the fresh, earthy scent that was so different to the smell of home, wandering aimlessly through countless plants and weaving around trees, occasionally hearing a rustle of a disturbed woodland creature, which kept him on his toes. Unthreatened by anything he'd heard or seen in the woodland so far, Nero continued through, jolting slightly as a crow shot past his face and almost sent him falling backwards.

"Stupid bird…" Nero grumbled, refusing to accept that he had been scared by an animal. He brushed himself down and continued onwards until stopping at his tracks near a ditch. The air got significantly colder and something inside the teenager made him stop. His senses heightened instinctively, sensing a threat that Nero's conscious mind didn't seem to register, there was nothing there.

He shook his head and pulled his hood down; upon that movement something unnatural began to stir silently around him before the ferns began to rustle. A chill went down Nero's spine as he looked around,

"It's probably just a squirrel or something…" He tried to assure himself that there was nothing to be worried about.

"Sparda…" A whisper that sounded almost as shallow as air flowed into his ear, making him twist and turn to try and see who was there, but again there was nothing.

"Who's there?" He scowled and kept on his guard, his heart began to pace faster and faster as the tension grew almost unbearable.

"Sparda…" The voice grew louder and seemingly closer as the rustling began again. The sound stung Nero's ears as he patted himself down, he had no weapons to defend himself with.

Nero parted his lips to answer the strange whisper, but was interrupted as he attempted with a pair of huge, red eyes glowing from the ferns. He turned to run, but then there was another pair, followed by another, and another, and another.

With nowhere to run all Nero could do was stand his ground and hope to intimidate whatever lurked in the darkness, but something told him it wasn't going to be that easy.

"W-what do you want?!" He yelled in hope of scaring them off, the five pairs of eyes just cackling darkly as they stepped closer, closing him in. Nero backed up and turned around to look at all of them, but turned back to have a monstrous looking black creature only an inch or two away from his face.

"Shit…" He cussed to himself as the creatures continued to cackle and mock him, drawing in closer and closer before Nero lashed out and punched one hard in the side of the head, forcing it to the ground from the impact. He had no idea he was so strong!

The others screeched demonically and started to attack, Nero kicking, punching and head-butting his way through them until only the largest remained. Not wanting to give the demon the first strike Nero swept his leg under the demon's, causing it to fall, only to have it bite and scratch down his right arm. Hissing with pain he kicked the monster repetitively in the head and wherever he could before it ceased to move. He panted and looked around, paranoid that there would be others around.

"What were those things…?" Nero panted to himself, it was too dark to see what they were but they weren't natural and he knew it. His thoughts were stopped in his tracks by a sharp, unbearable pain in his arm from the wound, it hurting through to the bone.

"A-ah!" He held his arm tight and doubled over as he clutched it tight to stop the bleeding with little success. Hissing and cussing from the pain, he limped slowly home, the sun rising by the time he managed to reach the gate to Fortuna. He hid his injury well to avoid unwanted attention as he walked through, he was let straight in as he had such a recognisable and respectable appearance, even if it was just due to the colour of his hair, which he hated anyway.

Bluntly ignoring the multiple polite 'good morning sir's he got as he walked through town, he speed-walked his back to his house in hope that they had all cooled down after yesterdays events.

Unsurprisingly, both Maria and Kyrie were worried sick that Nero hadn't returned last night after what happened with Credo.

"I'm sure he's just doing this to make us feel bad, Maria…" Jack sighed and sat beside his worried wife and daughter, Credo standing in the doorway. All heads were turned at the sound of the front door opening, Nero still clutching his arm.

"N-Nero?" Kyrie squeaked and stood up to greet him at the door, although Nero looked in a slight hurry to get upstairs before he almost walked straight into her. "Oh hey, Kyrie." He smiled awkwardly and tried not to wince from the pain of his ever bleeding wound.

"Nero, where have you been!? We were so worried!" Maria joined Kyrie in blocking his way upstairs.

"I-I uhh… just went for a walk…" He cleared his throat and sneezed a little from being out in the cold last night. "Look, I'm pretty tired… Can I just go to bed…?" He rubbed his face, covering his right hand with his sleeve.

Less than pleased with how unenthusiastic her son was to be home, Maria nodded and let him go upstairs, Kyrie having a strong feeling that something had happened while Nero was out and she wasn't the only one. Jack smelt a faint scent of something he had not smelled in a long time… Demons.

Jack made a quick exit to the council about the matter as Nero rushed upstairs, trying not to make it obvious that he was in a hurry as he made his way to the bathroom only a door down from Kyrie's room. He closed the door with his foot and took off his shirt and jacket before laying his arm in the sink, washing it down with warm water and hissing at the pain as the water ran red down the plug hole.

Nero paused as he dried off his arm, noticing something different about his pale skin on the injured limb. It looked almost dead due to the odd, purple colour which almost looked like it was bruised from fingertips to shoulder. 'Maybe its just blood loss…' Nero thought to himself as he scowled at it, feeling it a bit without disturbing the finally clotted wounds and causing the shooting pain to start up again. He hissed and cussed to himself as he bit his lower lip before going into the cupboard under the sink, getting the first aid kit out and wrapping his arm in bandages, censoring it from view so it didn't cause suspicion.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't as subtle and careful as he thought it was. Kyrie had followed him upstairs and noticed the bathroom door slightly open and was peeking through the gap the entire time, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Nero…?"


	4. Familiar Face

_Hi guys, this is my first Devil May Cry fanfiction. Thanks so much for your support so far, I hope you are all enjoying reading as much as I am writing!_

* * *

"K-Kyrie..!" He stumbled backwards and held onto the sink to steady himself, trying to hide his arm, "What's up big sis..?"

"What's wrong with your arm Nero? Did something happen?" She let herself in and almost forced his arm out from behind his back, rolling his sleeve up and gently holding his arm.

"Nothing, just scratched it against something." He huffed and tried to snatch his arm back, he was never one who liked being the centre of attention.

"Against what? A lions mouth!?" She peeked under the bandages to see the deep, brutal looking bite wounds. Nero hushed her to keep her voice down so nobody else heard.

"Look, Kyrie. I'm not a baby anymore. I can handle a few cuts and bruises…" He sighed as he looked down at her. She looked up at him with her amber-brown eyes and smiled slightly.

"I guess you're right…" She was so used to looking after him when he got into trouble as a child she was just used to it. The whole family was so protective of Nero they tried to keep him wrapped in cotton wool his entire life; that was no way for a man, especially a descendant of Sparda.

Nero forced himself to smile back so he didn't risk upsetting his sensitive older sister. Eventually she left him as she was called by their mother to help with the laundry which left Nero to return to his room.

Upon entering Nero flicked the on button on his stereo which began to burst with loud music. He kicked his door closed, stripped off his jacket and laid onto his cluttered bed to get some sleep. Nero mouthed along with the lyrics of his favourite song as he looked at his hand, reaching it up to the light of the window, wondering to himself what was so different about him.

After last night he knew he wasn't like the others. Nobody could clear a five foot jump and land a ten foot drop. Nobody could fight their way barehanded through five monsters in the dark and live to tell the tale, and most of all, nobody healed as fast as him.

He brought his finger tips to his cheek where the scrape from the roof was, it was gone without a trace. He scowled. Unwrapping the bandages from his arm he was sure he must've been imaging it but was bluntly corrected by the sight in front of him. In real time he could see the bite marks on his arm being healed and rejuvenated, was he dreaming?

"What the hell…?" He looked closer at his arm. It was surreal how he could see his flesh mending before him. What could this mean? He tried to dismiss all the thoughts from his brain but nothing could justify it, and it wasn't as if he could just ask his parents about it, they'd think he was smoking something. 'I gotta be seeing things…'

Whilst Nero was trying to make sense of his arm, Jack was just sitting down around the conference table with the other members of the Fortuna council.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, bretheren." Jack clasped his hands together on the table before bowing his head. "It has come to my attention that the threat of demons may return to Fortuna."

The men around the table began to mutter worriedly amongst themselves before settling.

"How can you be so sure?" An older member of the council spoke up from the opposite side of the table, doubting that the highly guarded city could be under threat.

"I believe someone who I shall not name has come in direct contact with a demon, either in or just outside the city in the past 24 hours. The scent is too distinct to pass off as a coincidence." He sighed as they began muttering once again.

"What do you propose we do, Cristello?" Another member spoke over the muttering voices and they silenced almost instantly. Jack paused as he thought of an answer.

"Set out troops to search the city and its walls, I also want the best demon hunter the council can hire. We cannot risk it."

Being such a vulnerable city, it was out of the question to take anything but the biggest precautions, their army was small and demons could leave them defenceless with ease.

"But where do we start? There are no bounty hunters for miles." A sceptical member mentioned, but Jack already had a name in mind.

"The Devil May Cry in Capulet. It will not be cheap, but I have heard many things about the hunters there." He nodded, the members all being in favour, despite the heavy price tag on it and no hard evidence, at least Jack was trusted.

The meeting was dismissed and Jack took it upon himself to contact the Devil May Cry. After dialling the number he raised the phone to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up.

"Devil May Cry." A rough, masculine voice that was heavy with sleep answered the phone.

"Yes, I am here about a demon extermination." Jack spoke quietly in his office so he didn't worry his family.

"Its gonna cost ya. Where and when?" The man grunted, taking his feet off the desk to get more comfortable as he talked.

"Fortuna, as soon as possible. Money will be handed to you when the job is done, cash."

"Music to my ears, I'll be there tomorrow." The man didn't even leave a name or any details, how strange. At least the job was as good as done. Jack put the phone back and walked to bed for the night, awaiting the hunter in the early hours of the following morning at the city hall.

Jack was up promptly at 6:00AM the next morning, dressing in his uniform and walking to the city hall which was only a five minute walk from his home. He was greeted with the company of the other council members on arrival, but with no sign of the bounty hunter. They weren't impressed so far.

"Are you sure this man is what we need, Cristello?" The head of the council frowned as he spoke, his money was paying this man and he was late even before the job had even started.

"I'm sure, sir. He cannot be long now." He bowed and turned to face the city as sunrise was growing near. He couldn't be late now, if the public saw a strange man talking to the leaders of the city it would cause suspicion and distress.

"I hope you're right, because I am beginning to doubt this decision." The leader sighed and continued to wait. Eventually, a whole half hour late a man on a motorbike came tearing through the streets, parking up outside the hall and dismounting. He stood tall and broad with pure white hair, dressed in a red leather trench coat. With him he carried an impressively large sword and two equally large hand guns.

"Devil Hunter Dante – at your service." He swung the sword over his back into its holster and flicked the guns into his belt, smirking as he looked up at the rather shocked and impressed men in front of him.

"Yes mister Dante, do come inside." Jack escorted Dante and the members inside to the conference room before sitting down. "Do understand that we need this done quietly and quickly. We are trusting that you won't disturb our peaceful city."

Dante tried to hold back a smug laugh, quickly? Yes. Quiet wasn't Dante's style. "Yeah, yeah. How much you guys willing to pay? Drove a long way you know." Jack looked at the leader and nodded, bringing up a large briefcase and placing it on the table.

"I hope you will be pleased with our offer." He opened the suitcase to reveal an attractive number of notes. "Ten grand. Cash."

The bounty hunter rubbed his glove covered hands together and clapped once, "Deal."

There was a collective sigh of relief from the council as they were confident that the threat would be over before it began. Jack scowled slightly at the man as he looked familiar; he looked an awful lot like his adoptive son.

"I'll start tonight. Make sure you keep that damn gate open for me." Dante snapped Jack out of his daze, "H-hmm? Yes, consider it done." He agreed, Dante stood from the table and made his way out to find where the demons were hiding.

The meeting ended and everyone made their way back home, Jack thinking about the hunter the entire walk home. Maybe he should keep an eye on him and see if he could find anything out about Nero's heritage.

He had to be careful; he couldn't let Nero see Dante. He didn't even know he was adopted yet, who knows how that time bomb would react? He would have to break the news soon before anyone got hurt.

It was nightfall when Jack returned home to dinner and tried to act as if nothing was bothering him. Nero tried to do his usual thing and sneak his dinner plate upstairs to eat in his room, but Maria protested.

"Sweetheart, please just join us for once." Maria pleaded with him. He gave a small grunt and nodded, reluctantly sitting between his mother and sister. He was always most comfortable there.

Jack looked over at Nero and sighed slightly, debating whether he should tell him before he found out for himself, but he didn't want to do it out of the blue like this. It was best he waited until at least he could control himself a little better.

After dinner Credo returned to study as Kyrie helped her mother with the dishes. Nero stuck his headphones over his ears again and went towards the front door for a late night walk.

"N-Nero where are you going this time of night?" Nero turned and put his headphones back over his neck,

"Out?" He replied and cocked an eyebrow, he never minded before.

"Could you not just stay inside today?" Jack sighed, knowing he wasn't sounding as subtle as he hoped.

"Nope. Sorry dad." Nero smirked smartly and walked outside, taking a key from the box on the window sill and closing the door behind him. He wanted to see what those monsters were.

He put up his hood to avoid being noticed, his dad would kill him if he saw him outside the gate. Luckily it was open, almost for his convenience which allowed him to easily stroll through and back to the scene of his accident where strangely, a motorbike was pulled up. Nero scowled and approached quietly, making his way almost silently into the woods where he saw another man standing a few paces ahead, looking for something.

Nero crouched behind a berry bush, watching the mysterious man as he prowled through the foliage, being snapped out of his stare when something heavy and loud pounced on his back, shrieking and biting his shoulder.

Dante turned at the noise and drew out his trademark hand guns, sprinting and shooting wildly but precisely, killing the creature and reducing it to nothing but a crumbling heap of dust. Nero was on his back on the floor by now, staring in shock at the man almost straddling him where he stood, a gun pointing down at his head.

"What're you doing out here kid?" He spoke, his white hair glistening in the faint moonlight. Nero was unable to speak and it felt like his heart stopped with his breathing, staring up at the strangely familiar man.


	5. Surreal Reflection

Nero stared up at the white haired male standing over him. He watched him staring back as seconds seemed to drag on for minutes in complete silence. Dante scowled as he looked directly into his eyes, noticing something familiar about the blue in them, but due to his hood, he was unable to see the platinum hair that would have identified him instantly. Dismissing the thoughts very quickly as he had a task at hand, Dante moved his gun from the boys view. "Run along kiddo, this is no place for you." He said in a dark, almost patronising tone as he turned to get back to work. Nero swallowed hard and sat up, holding his shoulder as he backed away. He heard Jack calling from the gate, not sounding best pleased as he saw the tense introduction between both the white haired men.

"Nero, get inside now!" Jack barked and Nero ducked his head before obeying, occasionally turning his head back to look at Dante as he walked over to his strict father. "Nero it's late, what are you doing out?" Jack didn't sound best pleased.

"Sorry. Curiosity killed the cat." Nero grunted and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking a small distance behind his father. "I don't want you going out there again. It's dangerous." Jack didn't have the heart to tell Nero about his adoption yet, but after meeting the mysterious Dante for the first time, Nero was already beginning to do the math for himself. "Fine."

The rest of the walk home was silent and tense. Jack unlocked the door and made sure Nero went up to his room instead of out the back door as usual. "Night, son. Get some rest." He called through Nero's door as he took himself to bed.

Son. Jack hadn't called Nero that in months, presumably disappointed in how his short fuse embarrassed him in front of the council on many occasions. In the end Nero boiled it down to the fact that it was probably just guilt. He lay awake all night just staring at the pale, bland ceiling of his room with the face of the man in the woods drumming in his mind.

"It couldn't be… We're not even related…" Nero shook his head and sighed. Come to think of it, Nero was never like the rest of his family. All of them had brown hair and brown eyes. His were white and blue. They were all average height or small, he was tall and well built. Not to mention all the inhuman traits he realised he possessed the day before. What was he thinking? It couldn't be true… could it?

It was a late night for both Jack and Nero. Jack woke up early in the morning to attend a second meeting at the city hall with the council and Dante. He arrived a few minutes late to find Dante with his feet resting on the table and picking blood from his short finger nails.

"All dead. But you have to be careful." Dante cleared his throat as the members of the council crowded closer around the table to listen. "Something is drawing demons here, I don't know what it is, but they aren't going to stop until it's gone." Dante stretched his arms up before resting them behind his head, no skin off his nose; it just meant more business for him.

"We've never had this problem before, what do you think would cause such a thing?" The leader spoke up. Dante leaned forward and rested his forearms on his parted knees after removing his legs from the expensive table.

"Anything could be the cause; a stolen possessed item, a half demon living in the city, anything." He shrugged and yawned, it was way too early for him. A pit opened in Jack's stomach, what if Nero was causing this? He couldn't admit it, not when his pride and family reputation was at risk, they would surely be driven out. He swallowed hard and shifted slightly in his seat. "The threat should be gone for a while though. Just call me again when shit hits the fan." Dante stood and patted his leathers down, slamming a heel on the table to flip the briefcase into the air, catching it in his hand.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." Dante grunted smugly and made his triumphant exit, swinging the case over his shoulder and kicking the door open for himself. He mounted his fierce red motorcycle and began to tear through the streets as he drove home, leaving the council ten grand poorer with a worry on their heads.

A heated discussion took place between the council members after Dante left them with more of a problem than they started with. "What does he mean? The threat is ongoing?!" A heated male slammed his fist onto the table. After minutes of loud quarrelling the leader raised his aged hand, signalling for silence.

"We will search the entire city thoroughly, the cause will be immediately removed." This was bad news for Jack, what if they added up the fact that Nero was white haired and foul tempered like Sparda, that he was a possible descendant? He could be exiled or even killed if they found him.

Reluctantly agreeing with the majority to avoid suspicion Jack allowed the plan to go forward, making his way straight home after being dismissed with the rest of them. On his route back home he caught Nero in the corner of his eye, jogging over and grabbing his arm. "Get inside." He growled almost as he gripped the teenagers arm, earning a wince and shove from him.

"What?! What have I done?" Nero yelped in protest and surprise, he had never erupted like that before so Nero didn't know how to react.

"Just come with me." He sighed, sounding rather distressed as he walked him inside, almost dragging him in by the ear it seemed. "Look. This is very important, you hear me?" He stood toe to toe with his son as he effectively threatened him. "You will know why when the time comes, but until then you have to keep your head down and your mouth shut, got it? No more sneaking out and causing trouble."

Nero looked up almost speechless into his father's eyes, trying to keep his chin ducked into his chest as far as it would go.

"…"

"That's what I thought."

Nero swallowed hard and managed to slip from his interrogating stare, making his way towards the stairs and up to his bedroom, leaping the last five steps not thinking Jack was looking, but he certainly noticed. And he didn't like the signs one bit.

Nero slammed the door to his room and rubbed his face and neck, sitting his hands on both shoulders and wincing at the pain of his right arm from where his father grabbed him. He sat on the messy bed and rolled up his sleeve to assess the condition of it. The colour of it alone made his stomach churn and the texture of his skin turned to tough leather. The immensely bruised skin became almost scaly to the touch and was becoming a mix of red and blue patches. It was nasty.

He shuddered at the sensation of stroking his forearm. No way was there an infection in the world that could cause this, furthermore no doctor that could cure it without amputation. He shook his head at the idea. He would just keep quiet about it for now, hoping it would sort itself out. Typical male point of view.

As Nero lay awake for yet another night Dante had just arrived at his shop back in Capulet City. He parked the bike outside and tossed the suitcase on his dark wood desk before taking off his jacket. He sighed tiredly and sat in his chair before putting his feet up on the suitcase, taking out a dirty magazine where he left off and placing it over his face for a well earned sleep.

Merely minutes into his sleep Dante began to stir from images he remembered during the mission the night before, the hooded boy in the woods with his stormy blue eyes, fair skin and dark eyebrows. He thought back longer and harder, recalling the father demanding his son to follow him inside, calling out his name, his name was… Nero.

Sixteen years was a long time, but even Dante couldn't forget what happened all those years ago. He took in a child and raised him for months before regretfully letting him go into the surrender that was Fortuna Orphanage, where he dubbed him by that very name. It was no coincidence.

He sighed and assumed it was too late to change things now, not wanting to ruin the poor kid's life and dragging him back from a palace to a pig pen. Although it was nice to see that he had grown into quite the young man at first glance, even if he never met him properly.

Hopefully it wouldn't be the last time.


	6. Torn Apart

Two years passed since Dante's visit to Fortuna and countless searches of the city remained unsuccessful due to Jack insisting on the patrol of his local area, all efforts seemed worthless. While frustrating to the council Jack stayed calm and relieved knowing his son was safe for now, even if his city wasn't.

Nero was now finally recognised as an adult, having just celebrated his nineteenth birthday a month before. With age came more concern to him about his arm as it was now covered in shining, thick scales ranging from crimson to navy with a thick cyan glow covering his palm and fingers, leaking up his arm like a large vein. He was even more cautious about it after the talk of demons began to circulate around the city, so he was forced to take measures to hide it better. He kept it tightly sealed away under two layers of bandages and a sling, having told his family that he simply had an accident on his new motorbike that left a lasting injury. They fell for it without much question as he was an adult and not their worshipped little prince anymore.

Nero had almost completely forgotten about the mystery regarding Dante as it was so long ago, but it seemed that Jack hadn't. After much consideration and conversation with his less than pleased wife Jack decided it was time for Nero to know about where he came from, at least what they knew, even if it was very little. They stalled the conversation until the evening, the whole family gathering in the living room as Maria called Nero, asking him to come down.

Paying little attention to what the matter might be, Nero heeded and made his way lazily down stairs, pulling some sweatpants on as he did, looked like he was in the middle of something 'important' as she called him. He met with them all in the living room and cocked a jet black eyebrow before taking his usual spot between his mother and sister.

"Yeah? What's up?" He shifted in his seat and leaned against his mother's side, a childish habit that Nero never seemed to have grown out of. Maria smiled slightly and put her arm around his neck, stroking his soft cheek. All of the family's faces softened as they realised just how hard this was going to be for them. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat hard and sat himself up, taking in a deep breath to get it over and done with. "Nero, I can't help but feel guilty at how we've been this dishonest with you so long…" He had been rehearsing this moment over and over in his head for years, just worrying about his reaction. "Although we love and support you as part of this family, I'm sorry to tell you that your mother and I are not your biological parents."

His son looked up and bit his lip, nodded silently and scratched the side of his nose to show that he was uncomfortable. He had half expected this for a while, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of it coming out of his father's mouth. Kyrie fiddled with her dress and welled up slightly just out of anticipation of how he would react, but nothing came. No tears, no shouting and nothing was thrown. Nero just nodded and sighed heavily, feeling slightly empty inside. "Then who am I?" He laughed nervously and almost hysterically as he pulled away from his so called mother's arm. She was almost reduced to tears at the fact that his question remained unanswered.

"…You're kidding right? I don't even know who my real parents are?" He stood in the centre of the room and looked around at the darkened faces, he was about to lose it, and he would have if it wasn't for the burning pain in his bound up arm distracting him. "I-I gotta go…" He hissed in pain and almost jogged out the front door. Maria pleaded for him to stay but Credo held her shoulder, "Let him go…"

Nero ran as far as he could and reached an alley by the city gates before slumping down in pain. His arm glowed vibrantly, so bright that he could have sworn it would have blinded him. With the glow came more pain as he cussed to himself, upset about his family as well as the pain. As a couple of tears crept into his eyes Nero curled up and tried to ease his agony before he was stopped short by a familiar, heart stopping growl. Nero's stinging eyes widened as he noticed the grim and grotesque figures surrounding him, he forgot about what time it was. It was city curfew due to the dangers that the council daren't utter the name of. Demons.

His heart pounded as he reached for Blue Rose in his holster, but he wasn't wearing it, just a comfortable pair of jogging pants. The monsters cackled as he cussed. The glowing became more aggressive than ever, seemingly drawing the demons towards it, but out of instinct he lunged the demonic hand forwards and crushing one of the creatures' skulls in the palm of his hand. He gave out a cry of anger as he pulverised the others, but swarms just continued to spawn around him.

Within minutes of mindless violence, Nero began to weaken as he became overwhelmed with the sheer numbers the demons were coming in. His eyes rolled back slightly as the fiends began to bite and claw at his flesh in a desperate mob, him only faintly noticing a black silhouette leaping in front of the full moon. A rain of bullets swarmed down and drowned the mob, forcing them all away from Nero's fatigued body.

Another man landed, crouching over Nero as his jacket shielded him from any more demons. He patted the younger man's cheek with his hand gun in an attempt to wake him, earning the pleasure of seeing two storm blue eyes peeking open as the boy grunted. His vision started as hazy, but with the help of the unnatural light source that was his arm, he was able to get a clearer picture of his saviour. "H-huh…?" He winced in pain as he made a premature attempt to sit up. He was pushed back down by the force of warm metal against his forehead which only distressed him more.

"So you're the little target making my life difficult…" Nero's eyes focussed on a familiar white haired man, holding a gun to his head. "W-wha..?!" He replied, startled and confused. Dante looked over at the glowing hand and scowled, "Let's hope your trouble matches your worth…" The older man's poorer eyesight restricted his vision during the night, he only kept his eyes on the prize.

"L-let me go!" Nero barked as he suddenly found the fight in himself to struggle. He attempted to wriggle away but was stopped dead by a large sword piercing the concrete next to his neck. Dante turned the sword to tease his victim, becoming horrified when the moonlight reflected from the metal to the sight of a petrified, helpless white haired young man. He blinked and stared as they were both illuminated in the shrouding darkness. His aged, pale eyes widened at the sight and Nero panted, staring back. His threatened breathes were the only sound for miles as the two took in the sight of each other.

It all came flooding back to Dante, the sleepless nights, stressful days, laughter, tears and warmth he felt all those eighteen long years ago. His lips parted and his breath shook, he exhaled a small cloud of fog as he spoke his name, "Nero…"

Nero's heart stopped. How did the hunter know his name, and why did he look so familiar? He struggled to speak, so he swallowed before trying. "W-who are you…?" He stared almost in awe at the older man. Dante smiled and took his time answering, but Nero could barely believe his ears at what he said next.

"Dante Sparda, your dad kiddo." Nero forgot to breathe. It seemed so obvious now that it came out of his mouth. He looked like a rabbit in headlights as he began to shake violently, overloaded with emotion. Dante stood and mounted his sword over his shoulder, smiling as he reached a hand out to his son to help him up. Nero blushed in amazement as he took his hand and stumbled to his feet. He looked up at the slightly taller man and smiled, turning around to see Jack running towards them quite desperately, begging for Nero to come home.

"Please my son… Come home, your mother's so worried…" Jack panted and froze as he saw Dante standing so close beside Nero, anyone could see the uncanny resemblance. He felt his gut sink. Nero swallowed and looked up at his white haired father, looking torn between the two.

He grew up with the Cristello's his entire life. They raised him into what he was today, even if at times they were unsure if that was a good thing. However with them he knew nothing about who he really was or where he came from. Dante knew. Now Nero seemingly had to choose, who did he consider his real family?


End file.
